Not a baa-d idea: Sheep to replace lawn mowers in Edmonton cemetery

Lawn-munching sheep have become an institution — and tourist attraction — in Fort Saskatchewan

If Brian McDonald’s vision comes to fruition this year, St. Stephen’s Cemetery in north Edmonton will be maintained by four-legged, woolly grass eaters instead of lawn mowers. McDonald, sales manager for the cemetery, wants to use sheep to graze part of the 40-acre burial ground.

“We have to do quite a bit of maintenance on it, so I thought, ‘Instead of cutting the grass, why don’t we get some natural grass cutters?’” he said. “It’s just land that used to be farmland, so why not use that for that purpose?”

In addition to grass maintenance, using sheep means McDonald wouldn’t have to spray for dandelions.

“I would love to see this happen, because then you get the natural fertilizer as well,” he said. “They’ll be able to just rotate right through because we have quite a bit of space.”

Only a small portion of the area is actually used for burials.

McDonald has talked to several interested sheep producers since learning about Fort Saskatchewan’s long-running sheep grazing program.

Back in 1992, the city used 450 sheep to graze the rail line area running through the community.

“When they moved the rail line out, all that land was rough and not easy to maintain, so we brought in the sheep to maintain it,” said Diane Yanch, culture and historic precinct supervisor with the City of Fort Saskatchewan.

The sheep were a hit and were invited back for several years. As the land was developed, it looked like the friendly lawn munchers were no longer needed. But residents had become fans, and so the sheep were brought in to graze Fort Saskatchewan’s parks each summer.

“Now we have about 50 to 60 sheep that come and hang out with us in the summer and it’s become more of a tourist attraction, as well as maintaining the grass and the museum grounds,” said Yanch.

On June 7, the sheep will be welcomed back with their own festival and parade. In September, community members are invited to a farewell picnic in the park, and the sheep are paraded through the downtown before they go back to their farm for the winter.

“It brings the community down to our parks and they get to talk to the shepherds and watch the dogs work,” said Yanch. “It’s a wonderful, fun experience for everyone who comes down.”

It’s also worked well for Kathy Playdon, owner of Brightbank Farm near Stony Plain, who has been with the project since its inception. Back in 1992, Playdon was raising more than 400 sheep on her 40-acre property. The Fort Saskatchewan project gave her extra grazing acres, and helped reduce the crowding at her place after spring lambing. She currently has about 70 adult sheep and 240 lambs this year. The younger ones stay at her place during the summer while most of the older sheep go to Fort Saskatchewan. Separating the babies from the adults makes weaning easier.

“It also gets the sheep off the property so I have enough pasture for everybody, which is nice,” said Playdon, who has been raising sheep since the late 1970s. “And I get to go to Fort Saskatchewan and babysit the sheep and visit with the public. We get people from all over the world, who all like to come and see the sheep.”

Fort Saskatchewan’s woolly lawn mowers are white Finn sheep, and some have been urban grazers all their lives. They enjoy being petted, and especially like treats.

“They like almost any vegetable that comes from the IGA and we’re right in behind Sobeys so anybody carrying a grocery bag past the sheep usually gets inspected,” Playdon said.

While Fort Saskatchewan’s sheep program is the most famous and longest running, there are several smaller initiatives throughout the province, said Margaret Cook, executive director of the Alberta Lamb Producers. Sheep and goats have been used to graze ski hills throughout the province, since they can easily get to places that two-legged groundskeepers can’t.

Cook said she has no way of knowing if sheep grazing is growing in popularity, since there may be projects that she hasn’t heard about.

Alexis Kienlen is a reporter for the Alberta Farmer Express. This story appears in the May 26 issue.